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Jekyll Square History
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The Masonic building on the northern corner of Jekyll Square East.
SIR JOSEPH JEKYLL (1663-1738). Courtesy Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
Jekyll Square, originally called “Jekyll Place,” was named after Sir Joseph Jekyll
(1663-1738), a member of British parliament. He was a friend of General Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, and a financial supporter of the colony. It is a fitting tribute to Sir Joseph Jekyll that the square named in his honor has long been a center of law, commerce and finance in Brunswick.
Jekyll Square was important to Brunswick’s early development in the history of the city. On its east side, the square has been bordered with retail shops, a hotel, a service station and the local Masonic lodge at various points in time. On the western side of the square, a stately 3-story building was home to two local financial institutions and the County Courthouse during the 19th century, and popular retail establishments and law offices from the 1900s onward.
As with other locations throughout Brunswick, a fevered rush of architectural reform impacted Jekyll Square in the late 1950s. The landmark bank/Courthouse on Jekyll West with a Mansard roof feature was reduced to a single story, and most nearby buildings were remodeled to conform to property owners’ vision of a comparatively stark, simplified, modular streetscape.
Until its revitalization in 2008, Jekyll Square had served primarily as an occasional gathering spot during crowded downtown events, or a blank space between other destinations. Extensive work on both sections of the square gave downtown Brunswick two beautiful parks, complete with a fountain, exceptional landscaping and plenty of places to sit and admire it all.
Monthly First Friday events frequently feature live music and entertainment in Jekyll Square East.
Jekyll Square West
A Center of Finance and Government
Initially, the population of Brunswick grew slowly. The city came into its own in the 1880s as the port became a national forest products export leader, and businesses began to flourish along Newcastle Street.
When Oglethorpe National Bank was chartered in 1889, it built an imposing 3-story red brick building with a distinctive cupola on Jekyll Square West. In 1893, the bank failed during a national economic crisis, and much of the building was unused for years.
In 1898 a major hurricane brought a 16’ storm surge into downtown Brunswick, flooding the city, including the county courthouse where valuable property records were stored and destroyed as a result of the inundation. The county then set their sights on the unused bank building as a place to move their operations. Although the cupola of the former bank was blown away, the sturdy main structure remained intact, so the county purchased the building and moved all official business to Jekyll Square.
OGLETHORPE NATIONAL BANK. Courtesy Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
When a new courthouse was built in "New Town" on the North end of Magnolia Square in 1907, the Brunswick Bank and Trust Company purchased the old Oglethorpe Bank building from the county. At the time, the bank held the distinction of having the only revolving door in town.
A long view of Newcastle Street shows the devastation of the 1898 hurricane. Inset: The cupola atop the bank building on Jekyll Square was blown away by the storm. Courtesy Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
A Growing City on the Move
This 1910 streetscape showing Jekyll Square features Brunswick’s favorite modes of transportation: the old fashioned horse-and-wagon, “modern” trolley cars and the new craze—an automobile. Automobiles would have had limited use at the time, as most streets were still unpaved.
NEWCASTLE STREET LOOKING NORTH, 1910. Courtesy Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
Brunswick Bank & Trust later changed its name to American National Bank, and eventually sold the building to private investors when a new main office was built on Gloucester Street. The Victorian landmark structure provided plenty of profitability challenges for the purchasers. Engineers could find no feasible way to add elevators to overcome the steep flights of stairs to the top two floors. The building needed major remodeling to appeal to tenants. The local property tax code burdened the new owners with payments on unusable interior square footage.
Their solution was to remove the upper two floors from the building and concentrate on making the ground floor “modern” to recoup some of their investment. The plans were kept very quiet; in fact, Brunswick citizens were shocked to find the demolition of the building completed so quickly. One business neighbor recalled, “It seemed like we went home one night with the old bank still there like always, and when we came to work the next morning, the top two floors were gone.”
EXPLORE THE GOOGLE STREET VIEW MAP.
Looking Good
Several generations of Brunswick gentlemen benefited from the talents of Howard E. Battle, of Floyd’s Barber Shop on the southeast corner of Jekyll Square West. Altman’s Feminine Attire, which sold everything from Girl Scout uniforms to ball gowns, later occupied that space, plus several adjacent buildings.
HOWARD E. BATTLE OF FLOYD'S BARBER SHOP. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts & Humanities Association.
New Life in the Old Square
SEE THE RENOVATION GALLERY
In 2008, the City of Brunswick and Signature Squares restored both Jekyll Square East
and West. The focal point of Jekyll West is the fountain created from the base bowl salvaged from the original 1885 fountain in Hanover Square. The parks were dedicated on May 2, 2008.
The fountain in Jekyll Square West utilized the original base bowl of the Hanover Square fountain. Courtesy Troup Nightingale, Southeastern Photography.
Jekyll SQUARE EAST
Ocean Lodge # 214 F & AM, chartered in 1857, found a new home on Jekyll Square East when it moved from Hanover Square
in 1885. The ladies of the Eastern Star worked for 14 years to raise money to build the landmark structure that still exists on the north side of this square today, currently occupied by Ned Cash Jewelers. The Masons emblem can still be seen above the second floor on the front façade. Retail establishments, like the High Grade Clothing shop under the striped awning, occupied the ground floor. The Masons used the top floor of the building for Lodge activities. The second story windows were shortened to offer more privacy, and a 30’ extension was added to the back of the structure in 1904.
NEWCASTLE STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM JEKYLL SQUARE. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts & Humanities Association.
The Masons of Brunswick have been dedicated to the service of their community, particularly during the city’s two major yellow fever outbreaks in 1876 and 1893. Members of Ocean Lodge #214 endangered their own lives to stay in the city and tend the sick, as hundreds of citizens evacuated to escape the disease.
EXPLORE THE GOOGLE STREET VIEW MAP.
The Hurricane of 1898
On October 3, 1898, an Atlantic hurricane hit the Georgia coast at high tide, bringing 135 mph winds and a tidal surge that put Brunswick’s downtown area under 16’ of water. At least 179 people in Glynn County lost their lives, primarily from drowning. Most buildings along Newcastle Street sustained some damage, including those near Jekyll Square.
Debris from the 1898 hurricane littered Newcastle Street after the storm passed. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts & Humanities Association.
A Place to Gather
The arrival of a traveling circus was an exciting event in smaller cities like Brunswick at the turn of the end of the 19th century. A well-developed rail system allowed America’s favorite form of mass entertainment to bring more elaborate acts, exotic animals and larger tents to towns all over the country. Crowds gathered in Jekyll Square East to watch the circus opening parade of five elephants, gilded carriages and Native Americans in traditional attire, followed by numerous wagons full of other attractions.
Native Americans in full tribal splendor delighted Brunswick’s citizens when the John Robinson Circus came to town in 1895. Courtesy Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
Creating an Oasis
In its early days, Jekyll Square East was little more than an empty space between buildings along Newcastle Street. Retail shops on the north side of the square sold clothing, and later, fine jewelry and clocks. The south side once had a hotel and private residence in the 1870s, then a grocery store followed by an auto service station, popular restaurants and O’Quinn’s Mens Shop, the quintessential gentlemen’s clothier.
Volunteers work on renovation of Jekyll Square East. Courtesy Troup Nightingale, Southeastern Photography.
In 2008, Signature Squares of Brunswick landscaped both sides of the square.
Jekyll Square East featured a southern live oak tree as its centerpiece, with ample bench seating and lush plantings in a symmetrical design.
JEKYLL SQUARE EAST RENOVATION, 2008. Courtesy Troup Nightingale, Southeastern Photography.
An Old Tree, A New Legacy
As time marches on, plans sometimes have to adapt. Such was the case of Jekyll Square East. In 2016, the grand old Live oak that shaded downtown visitors for generations had completed its life cycle and posed a considerable hazard to nearby buildings, people and infrastructure. The decision was made to remove the tree in July of that year. Through community partnerships with the Live Oak Garden Club, Southeast Nursery and Sea Island Company Landscaping, a new Live oak tree was planted to shelter the square far into the future.
JEKYLL SQUARE EAST AFTER TREE REPLACEMENT AND RE-LANDSCAPING.
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Squares History
